Improvement in saddles



' UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ROBERT N. EAGLE, OF UNITED STATES ARMY.

IMPROVEMENT IN SADDLES.

Speciiication forming part of Letters Patent No. 34,044, dated December 24, 1861.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ROBERT N. EAGLE, of the United States Army, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Saddles; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 is a side view of a saddle with my improvement, the skirt on one side being removed. Fig. 2 is a section of the same at a; a, Fig. l.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in both figures.

The object of the invention is to assist the learner to acquire a correct position in riding, as well as to insure his safety, ease, and grace, and to give the skillful and unskillful rider a firmer seat than is attainable with saddles now in common use.

The nature of the invention consists in the use of adjusting-bars running parallel with the sides of the tree, which afford varied points of suspension to the stirrup-leathers and in a direction from front to center of seat, and, if desired, altogether to the rear of the points now in general use, the said bars allowing such alterations to be made in the point of suspension of the stirrup as may be necessary for the instruction of recruits, for aiding the seat of an unskillful rider, or in conforming to the preferences and prejudices of various nations and individuals.

To enable others to make and use my invention, I will proceed to describe its construction and operation.

A represents the seat of the saddle; B, t-he poinmel, and C the cantle.

D D is a horizontal bar (a similar' one being attached to each side of the saddle) with its ends secured either to the upper or lower surface of the tree, or, as by means of a fork, to both upper and lower sides,if desired. By the former mode, as shown in Fig. l, the bar projects over the edge of the tree in a direction following the curve or arch of the saddle, so as to offer no interference to horse or rider and low enough, as shown in Fig. 2, to permit the passage of the loops -hereinafter described.

d d d are a series of projecting studs raised or formed upon the bar D D or otherwise cut from the eXtreme depth of the bar.

E is the eye from which the stirrup-leather is suspended. The said eye is constructed with loops c c encircling the bar D D, each loopl being of equal width with the spaces between the studs d. The rear loop is made somewhat longer than the front one, or the eye by other means (such as by a slanting direction given to the bar itself) is caused to assume an oblique angle with reference to the horizontal plane of the saddle in order to afford an even bearing to the stirrup-leather while the latter is stretched by the foot in a somewhat inclined direction, as indicated by the red outline in Fig. l.

In the application of thisinveution the eyes E E can be so adjusted upon the bar D D as to suit the convenience or preference of the rider or to insure its adaptability in training thelearn er to a correct position. The eye being readily shifted backward and forward by raising it sufficiently to permit the loops to pass over the tops of the studs, and being once placed in any two notches or spaces between the studs, the loops by pressure of the legs are effectually secured against displacement. The slots in the loops are required to be of sufficient depth not only to admit the passage of the studs, but also to allow one end of the bar at least and the angles of same to be passed through when the parts are being lirst put together.

The effect of theinvention is,first, to afford the means of adapting anyone saddle for either a military or civic seat; second, to apply this principle to a saddle in order to suit the wants of a recruit as well as the comfort or caprice of a skilled and constant equestrian; third, to control the seat of the rider and define his position more positively by shortening or reducing the posterior surface of the saddle-seat and throwing the buttocks or lower part of his body more or less forward, causing him to pivot himself by the assistance of his knees and thighs in a nearly perpendicular position in or over the center of the saddle, instead of as heretofore allowing his body to incline either backward or forward or to shift in like directions, should the saddle be too large,

thus giving the rider a secure, easy, elastic, and graceful seat, and enabling him to cling closely to his horse, and, by bringing his feet more under him,to prevent the jolting effect of a rough gait or a movable seat in his saddle.

The invention is adapted to all varieties of saddles for military or civic uses, including those for females.

I do not desire to be understood as restricting myself to the particular means described for applying my invention, as it is apparent that the same may be modified in various Ways without departing from the essential principles made known, nor do I restrict myself as to the number of points of suspension applied to one and the same saddle; but

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

Attaching the stirrups to a saddle by variable points of suspension in the mannerhere inbefore explained or in any other manner substantially equivalent.

R. N. EAGLE.

Witnesses:

OCTAVIUS KNIGHT, L. W. BENDRE. 

